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Jesus Healing 011 the Sabbatli.
Jan. 7, 1923. Luke 13.
The Jew8 had an idea which is still
very prevalent, that every trouble or
affliction that comes upon a man is
due to some special sin. Some of the
Jews came to Jesus to get Him to
express Himself on this subject. They
told Him of some of His countrymen,
whom Pilate had slain in the Temple
precincts. Jesus sees what they were
after and wisely throws their question
back at them. Then He tells them
of some people upon whom a tower
fell, and asks if they think these peo
ple were worse than other people who
did not meet with the same fate. All
suffering is the result of sin. But
us we know very well many people suf
fer because of the sins of others. Why
(Sod has permitted sin and suffering
in the world, we cannot tell. But
Jesus teaches that tne only way to
escape from such suffering is to repent
of sins. If we want to be free from
them, we must go to heaven. But
no one can And entrance into the
heavenly home with sins unrepented
of. We had much better be thinking
of our own sins and repenting of them
than to be thinking of what sins oth
ers are guilty of.
What each one ought to do is to
repent of sins and live a life that
shows that they have been repented
of. He tells the Jews that those who
do not show repentance in their lives
will be, like the barren flg tree, cut
down and thrown out.
On the Sabbath day Jesus went to
the synagogue to join with others in
worshipping God. He never said that
it was not necessary iu go to church,
or that He could worship God alone,
as' Well as He could in church.
The ruler of the synagogue was the
chairman of the board of elders, who
directed all of the affairs of the syn
agogue. He had the right to ask any
one whom he chose to conduct any
part of the services. It is probable
that Jesus was asked to take some
part at this time as He often was.
In the synagogue there was a wom
an sorely afflicted. Many a woman
under the same condition would have
said she was not well enough to go
to church. Jesus did not wait for her
to ask His help, but called her to Him,
and healed her. It was done instantly
by a word and a touch.
The ruler of the synagogue became
very Indignant. He was not willing
to rebuke Jesus directly, but hit at
Him over the shoulde/s of the people.
He ,-J^bused them all as though they
wete all responsible for the woman's
coming to church, and that they had
brought her there. for the purpose of
being healed. He claimed that Jesus
had violated the Sabbath, because He
had worked in healing the woman.
Jesus reminds him that he would
have untied his ox or his ass and led
him out to water to prevent his suf
fering from thirst. That was work,
but it was work done in mercy. Here
was a woman who had suffered for
eighteen years. If His healing her
could be counted work, it was justi
fied by her needs.
There was a time in recent years
when people were guilty of observing
the letter of the Sabbath law instead
of its spirit. But that day has pretty
generally passed. The trouble now is
that most people fail to observe either
the letter or the spirit of the law of
the Sabbath. The teaching of the
Word of God Is that no work shall be
done by us or caused to be done by
othersv except the works of necessity
apd mercy. There Is great need to
day for a more- careful observance of
the Sabbath.
Satan tried to destroy the Sabbath
in the days of the Saviour by mak
ing its observance so burdensome that
men would rebel against it. Now he
is trying to lead men to observe it as
little as possible.
Without the Sabbath, there will be
no church and no religion. Without
religion, the world will be in a state
of ruin and chaos. "Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy."
L.EXINGTON, VA.
On account of the additions that
are being made to the Sunday school
building, it was impracticable to hola
the annual Rally Day exercises on the
first Sunday in October, and they were
postponed until October 15th. The
Program Committee had worked hard
to have everything in readiness, and
gave a personal invitation to all mem
bers of the congregation by means of
postal cards. At 9:45 the exercises
began with a brief welcome by the
superintendent. Elder Frank Moore.
All the children were eager and happy
to perform the parts assigned to them.
Probably the two most interesting fea
tures of the exercises were the award
ing of Bibles by pastor, Dr. Thomas
K. Young, to those who had repeated
perfectly the Shorter Catechism and
the pageant on the Fourth Command
ment.
Dr. Young called up eighteen from
the Woman's Bible Class to receive
their Bibles, at least one of them be
ing seventy-five years old. Six had
never learned the catechism before,
and the others repeated it perfectly
after thirty or forty years, and all
were given Bibles. After this, some
of the young people presented the
pageant, emphasizing the need of
keeping the Sabbath day holy. It
was very impressive and attractive.
The attendance on this occasion was
451, and the collection amounted to
more than $100, which will go to Sun
day School Extension.
YOUNG PEOPLE.
(Continued from page 11)
Wells, who made Daniel, Esther, Da
vid, and Mary (whose lives we stud
ied) real people who lived again be
fore us and whom we saw in an en
tirely new light and with a deeper in
terest than ever before.
The open conference from 8 to 8:30
was conducted by the conference mem
bers themselves, presided over by the
student president, assisted by Mr. H.
H. Wells, when subjects of interest in
regard to Church life and work were
discussed. At one open conference
there was a debate: "Resolved: That
our debt to the Home Mission field is
greater than the Foreign field."
At the first inspirational meeting?
we were, indeed, fortunate in having
with us Mrs. J. W. Hassell, of Maru
game, Japan. Mrs. Hassell was a for
mer Petersburger and member of our
church, but for the past seven years
she and her husband have been doing
a wonderful work as missionaries to
Japan. She gave us a glowing account
of her work among the Japanese
young people and at the close made
a stirring appeal for workers, which
sank deep into the hearts of all her
hearers.
Mr. William Cllft, who had charge
of the second inspirational meeting,
talked on "Stewardship." He said
there is much said about tithing, but
that Ood wanted not only our money
but our service.
The beautiful pageant, "The Mes
sage," showing how to observe the
Sabbath, which was presented at Mas
sanetta last summer, was given at the
second devotional meeting.
Completing the four-fold plan there
was, of course, the social hour, when
everybody got together for a jolly good
time. Under the supervision of Mrs.
H. R. Smith and Mrs. J. N. Harrison,
the social hours were all that could
be desired ? games, songs, refresh
ments and everything. Miss Mary
Gray Harrison and Mr. H. H. Wells
had charge of the music.
And stunt night! This took the
place of the last inspirational service
and was more fun. Each clan had a
stunt, including the Methuselahs, as
our faculty called themselves.
Mr. Claude H. Prichard, of the
Union Theological Seminary, Rich
mond, Va., conducted one of the in
spirational services. His subject was
"Shadows." Each of us casts a
shadow over the lives of others. May
each of Us from now on cast a better
shadow, one that will help, not hinder,
those with whom we come in contact.
As on a hot sunny day the big oak
tree reaching out its giant branches
to the sky affords shade and rest to
tired travelers, so may our shadows
bring inspiration and cheer to world
travelers along the highway of life.
When at the close of his talk, Mr.
Prichard asked for Student Volunteers
to stand, eight stood signifying their
intention of making the work of our
Master their life's work.
"O Saviour, we would give to Thee
all that we are and all that we have,
our lives, our money, our service, and
we pray that Thou wilt take them
and use them for Thy honor and
glory."
WOMAN'S WORK.
(Continued from page 7)
do thou knowest not now, but thou
shalt know hereafter." "Have faith
in God."
He knows best how "the dross to
consume and the gold to refine." He
has lessons to teach them, and to
teach us, who helplessly watch and
wait. To them and to us may not
dependence on our Father be deep
ened, faith strengthened, as He
makes very real to us the words,
"Who shall separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus? Shall
tribulation, or anguish, or persecu
tion, or peril, or nakedness, or fam
ine, or sword? Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us, for I am
persuaded that neither life, nor death,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature shall separate us
from the love of God which Is in
Christ Jesus our Lord."
Bristol, Tenn.
TO KILL YOUR AUXILIARY.
Miss as many meetings as you can.
If you do attend, come late.
If the weather is not good, don*,
think of going.
Be sure to find fault with the work
of the officers.
Decline to serve in any office.
Get sore if you are not put on a
committee.
If the chair asks your opinion, say
you have none, but later criticize
everything that was done at the meet
ing.
Do nothing yourself, and when
others work hard, talk about the
"clique that runs things."
Never answer a note or letter.
Give the least you can. ? Adapted.
WK8T VIRGINIA 8 Y NODICAL AUX
ILIARY OFFICERS.
President? Mrs. R. F. Dunlap, Hin
ton.
Corresponding Secretary ? Miss Lil
lian Daugherty, Hinton.
Secretary, Foreign Missions ? Mrs.
Robert Gray, Union.
Secretary, Christian Education and
Ministerial Relief ? Mrs. S. J. South
worth, 908 9th Ave., Huntington.
Secretary, Assembly's Home Mis
sions ? 'Mrs. A. C. Herold, Sutton.
Secretary Sunday-school and Young
People's Work ? Miss Teresa King.
Secretary. Development of Spirit
ual Life ? Mrs. Gordon Woody,
Charleston.
Secretary, Literature ? Miss Isabel
Arnold, Elkins.
Historian ? Mrs. Lewis Stuart, Rich
lands.
Presbyterial Presidents.
Greenbrier ? Mrs. Wm. P. Echols,
Alderson.
Kanawha ? Mrs. W. E. Pepper, 1136
3rd Ave., Huntington.
Tygarts Valley ? Mrs. L. D. Zlnn,
Glenville
"Set a watch, O Lord, before my
mouth; keep the door of my lips."
(Ps. 141:3.)
O Saviour, as Thou didst teach Thy
disciples to pray, so teach ub that we
may always speak rightly.
A CALL TO AN UNUSUAL SERVICE.
The Assembly's Stewardship Com
mittee, at a recent meeting, passed
a resolution asking every Executive
Secretary, Associate Secretary, Evan
gelist, Home Mission Superintendent
(or Assembly, Synod or Presbytery),
Sunday School Field Worker, School,
College, Seminary and Orphanage
President in the entire Church to set
apart March 4th, 11th and 18th next
to help in the Progressive Program.
We are asking that no engagements
be made for these three Sundays, and
Book of Chnrch Order
With 1922 Amendments.
The new edition is now ready. Or
der your copy at once. Should be in
the hands of every Pastor and Church
Officer.
Price, Cloth, 35c, Postpaid.
CONFESSION OF FAITH.
New edition contains revised Book
of Church Order, with 1922 Amend
ments.
Price, Cloth, 75c, Postpaid.
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